Jamie Burns Receives North Country Trail Honor Award
Photo 1: Jan Berg of the Butler Outdoor Club presents North Country Trail honor award to Jamie Burns.
Photo 2: Jamie Burns stops poses for a picture at the site of the picnic table and benches he built along the trail.
North Country Trail Honor Award
Jamie Burns received the North Country Trail Honor Award on March 4, 2020 from Jan Berg, president of the Butler Outdoor Club. The criteria for the honor award states: “Chapter or Afiliate volunteers who demonstrate loyalty, commitment, and hard work annually to the local organization’s chosen activities.” For his project, Jamie built a picnic table and benches at the John Stehle memorial shelter on the North Country Trail. He designed the picnic table and helped with trail-work, and bringing in the supplies and materials for the table. The Butler County Chapter segment of the North Country Trail has 57-miles and begins at Alpha Pass in McConnells Mill State Park and ends crossing the Parker Bridge over the Allegheny River at Parker. The Trail in Butler County winds through the forested hills of the Allegheny Plateau in Western Pennsylvania. The Trail skirts Lake Arthur in Moraine State Park passing by the Muddy Creek Dam, the Owlet Gift Shop (maps, brochures and snacks), the Link Road Adirondack Shelters, and the historic Davis Hollow Cabin where camping is permitted. The Trail then follows an old Indian path which follows the high ground north through hardwood and pine forests past the Jennings Environmental Education Center (gift shop, restrooms and remnant prairie) to the historic Old Stone House (1882), a restored inn on the stage coach route from Pittsburgh to Erie. The Trail passes by West Sunbury and through 13 miles of trail in the forested Pennsylvania State Game Lands 95 in northern Butler County. Another 4-mile segment passes remnants of the early oil industry along Bear Creek and crosses the mouth of Bear Creek on the way to the Trail Town, Parker. Parker, America’s smallest city, is located along the scenic Allegheny River in Western Pennsylvania. The forested hills and clear streams and the natural beauty of the surrounding area provide residents and visitors alike with year-round outdoor recreation, and is designated as a Trail Town.